In all the much deserved hubbubaloo over the DC Universe Classics line,
folks may have forgotten about another DC line planned by Mattel for 2008 -
DC Universe Fighting Figures. I'll be calling them DCUFF from now on.

This line was originally planned as a game. Mattel called it 'battleauge',
they were to be their answer to Attacktix. However, those plans were
scrapped, and the figures renamed 'Fighting Figures'. Each has one of
four possible action features - an 'attack throw', 'power punch', 'battle
blaster', or my favorite, 'flick flight'. Sounds like something off
page 327 of the Kama Sutra.

There are five two packs currently hitting stores that I know of, all
reviewed tonight. There is Superman vs Darkseid, Batgirl vs. Joker,
Batman vs. Two Face, Robin vs. Two Face (he gets around), and Batman vs.
Catwoman. There are actually 6 sets in a case, with an extra Supes/Darkseid.

On the back of the card are several more waves that are planned.
While the game didn't survive, big Attacktix fans have plans to incorporate
these figures into their games. Almost makes you want to play
Attacktix!

The price on these will vary of course, depending on the retailer, but at
Toys R Us they were $8 for a set of two. I have a hunch Target will
carry them as well.

A question for my readers: There was supposed to be a SDCC exclusive of
these guys last summer. Did they make one?

Packaging - ***1/2I can't quite put my finger on what it is, but I really like the cardback
designs for all the DC Universe stuff. It is partly due to the
terrific city scape graphics behind the characters, which I used extensively
in the close up photos. It's partly due to the size, which is fairly
easy to store and keep MOC for those into that. And it's partly due to the
inclusion of the little photos on the back of the upcoming figures, a
feature I always appreciate. There's also no twisties and only one rubber
band holding in any of the ten figures. But there's also just an artistic
appreciation for the overall appearance, from the logo to the text, that
comes together in a very powerful way.

And let's not forget that there's none of the moronic blind packaging.
When the game idea got scrapped, it was important that they scrapped any
thoughts around blind boxing too.

Sculpting - ***1/2
The sculpts were done by the Four Horsemen, who are getting a ton of work
from Mattel these days. Smart move on both their parts, as this kind
of quality sculpting will only improve the sale of the figures, and the
reputation of 4H.

The scale here is small, with the figures standing around 3" tall.
Some, like Darkseid (at about 3 1/2") are bigger of course, while others are a hair
smaller. Supes and Catwoman are suspended about 5" off the ground.
It's important to consider the scale when grading both the sculpt and the
paint categories, as smaller scales are harder and harder to do well.
It's also harder to see issues in this scale with the nekkid eye, but the
camera can be truly unforgiving.

All ten figures are done in a dynamic pose, as you'd expect from a line
with the word 'fighting' in it. Some of these poses work better, and I
think the only two I have any real issues are the Batman and Robin carrying
the big honkin' guns. It's not so much the guns, which are not
removable, but rather the pose of the capes, particularly Robin's. I'm
assuming he just jumped down into this momentary pose, but I've never been a
big fan of overly dynamic cape poses. His hunching over doesn't do a
lot for me either, and the poor Boy Wonder is my least favorite of the line.

I is actually tough for me to select my favorites from the rest. I
like the basic black and gray Batman, as well as the Batgirl, Catwoman and
Supes.

The action features interfere with the sculpts with the Attack Throw and
the Battle Blaster. The issue with the firing feature should be
obvious: the big ass guns aren't removable, and are quite cartoony and
silly. For the Attacktix fans, that won't be an issue, but other
casual collectors may find them less appealing.

For the figures with the Attack Throw (Darkseid and one Two Face in this
set), there is a large 'lever' sculpted off the back of one foot. This
lever can be quite distracting from a side view.

But overall, I'm quite pleased with the sculpts, and find them vastly
appealing to the goofy Attacktix.

And just in case you are wondering, no, the figures can not be removed
from the base without surgery with the obvious exception of Superman and
Catwoman.

Paint - **1/2Unfortunately, the paint doesn't quite do all it can do to win this one.

The photos actually make them look worse then they are to the nekkid eye,
since it shows details you can't see. Still, these are your basic mass
market quality paint ops, with bleed, rubs, missing spots and poor cut lines
between colors.

On the plus side, the figures are all very colorful, with more small
detail work than I expected. Thinks like the buttons on Two Face's
shirt or the Joker's spats could have easily been skipped, and it would have
been hard to notice. Also, the tampo areas, like the symbols on Robin,
Supes, Batman and Batgirl, are very well done, and quite straight and clean.

There are also words printed on the base of each figure. It's a
little blurb about that particular character. It sounds
like a carry over from the game, but it's amusing at least.

Unfortunately, it also means one more thing that can get messed up.
My Robin actually has a line about Two Face...

Articulation - ***
These aren't just little PVC's - they have articulation! I was
surprised since they don't have to have any joints to do what they were
intended to do. But having four points (a cut neck, cut shoulders and a cut
waist) meant that I could adjust them to get the pose I wanted for the
photos.

The waist and neck were particularly useful, since it allows you to put
the upper body at different angles to the viewer.

Accessories - Darkseid, Two Face **1/2; the rest Bupkis
There aren't really any accessories per se with this series. Darkseid
and the one version of Two Face do have something they throw, so I'm giving
them at least a little appreciation in this category for that, but the line
isn't really built around the concept of accessories (considering the scale)
so this won't have any real effect on my overall score one way or the other.

And yes, Two Face's coin is scarred on one side and not on the
other...and he can hold it with either side up.

Action Feature - Power Punch, Flight Flick ***; Attack Throw **1/2;
Battle Blaster **;
As I mentioned earlier, there are four action features. One is
designed to punch, one to fire a projectile, one to throw a projectile, and
one to actually 'flick' the character themselves.

I hate action features on figures. They are much better on vehicles
and playsets, but on figures, they don't do a whole lot for me. I'm grading
these not on how much play value they add (that's in the next category), but
rather on how little the negatively impact the figure itself. If they can do
that AND actually work pretty well, that's terrific.

The only one of the features to do both is the Flight Flick. It has
little negative impact on the figure, and the Supes and Catwoman that have
it here are both great looking. There is the slot in their chest of
course, but having them suspended on the clear stand looks terrific.
That's because the sculpts are well designed for the feature.

The flicking works well too, by either pulling back at the middle of the
clear bar or by pulling back on their foot. They fly a fair distance,
certainly farther than the average spring projectile. And yes, there's
a spring mechanism in the base that makes that possible.

In fact, all the action features are spring powered. The punching
feature has almost no impact on the visual attractiveness of the figure.
Here, one Two Face (with the machine gun), one Batman (black and gray) and
Batgirl have a punching action. There are actually TWO different
spring mechanisms for the punch. Batman and Batgirl are pulled
backward, and they pop forward to smack the bad guy. Two Face is
turned, and he snaps back throwing the punch from the side. Both
mechanism work, but because the base keeps any one figure from standing too
close to another, getting them to actually strike another character means
tilting them in, or using Two Face's gun as his striking surface.

Slightly less appealing for me is the Attack Throw. One of the Two
Face figures and Darkseid have this ability. They are holding
something over their head in both hands, and by pressing backward on the
lever on their foot and then releasing, they throw it forward. While
this attack action works better than the punch when trying to take out an
opponent, the large lever on the foot is very distracting.

The least attractive is the firing or "Battle Blaster" feature. The
large guns carried by the Joker, Batman and Robin are not removable,
cartoony, and oversized. The Joker's is the best looking and most
sensible though, and they all fire their projectiles well. The spring
is strong enough to take out another DCUFF at close range, even with the
large blue base they stand on.

Fun Factor - ***
Some of the figures lend themselves to play better than others, but overall
I think kids will enjoy them. In fact, the action features that I
ranked lowest are likely to be the ones kid enjoy the most, since they
involve actual projectiles. The Power Punch is fairly lame for play
value, and the only one kids and I would probably agree on is the Flight
Flick. They'll enjoy launching Supes or Catwoman at the other figures
(or their siblings), and I think that action feature doesn't take away from
the appearance at all.

Value - ***
It seems like regular PVC figures are running around four bucks a pop these
days, particularly when they are in this scale (3") and if they have some
articulation. Getting these at that price, along with some action
features (as lame as they may be) is an above average value.

Things to Watch Out For -
Take some care pulling these out of the bubble. There isn't any
twisties - thank God - but some of the limbs are inserted through the tray,
and the thinner, softer ones (like Catwoman or Supes) could tear.

These do allow for some solid play value, probably more so without the
game than even with. Kids can still use them to battle, without any
restrictions or rules.

Also on the plus side is that while they aren't as goofy looking, they
will fit in with the Star Wars and Marvel Attacktix, giving those folks
another set of figures to add to their arsenal.

I'm not sure the longevity is there with this line, considering the
failures that similar lines have had. I might end up picking up the
whole series, as I never was sucked into Heroclix or Attacktix. They
certainly aren't going to have the popularity with collectors that the DCUC
stuff does and will, but hopefully sales will be strong enough to get a few
waves out - along with that originally announced Batmobile!